Kuwait City - Gulf Insurance Group, one of the leading insurance service providers in the Middle East and North Africa, announced that Standard & Poor’s Global Rating Agency has affirmed financial strength rating and issuer credit rating of GIG at “A-” and revised the outlook to Positive from Developing. The positive outlook indicates that the agency considers AXA Gulf transaction could be transformational for GIG over the outlook horizon.

The affirmation and the outlook revision have resulted from GIG’s latest developments; completion of the acquisition of AXA’s operations in the Gulf region for US $474.75 million, after obtaining necessary regulatory approvals and KD 50 million rights issue execution.

The agency disclosed that the successful integration of AXA operations will materially strengthen GIG's competitive position in the MENA region and overall business risk profile, giving it economies of scale and greater geographical diversification in insurance markets that have strong attributes. Additionally, the agency expects improvement of the credit quality of the Group’s combined investment portfolio. Following a KD 50 million capital increase, the immediate pressure on GIG’s capital adequacy and leverage from the acquisition has been removed.

The rating agency expects that the acquisition and integration of AXA operations in the Gulf will position the Group among the top 3 players in the region, with gross premium income of US$ 2.3 billion, enabling the Group to reduce its concentration risk in Kuwait. This will strengthen GIG’s overall business risk profile and lower the exposure to countries that have higher industry risk.

Mr. Khalid Al Sanousi, Group Executive Manager - Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, said:

“We are pleased with the ratings affirmation with revised outlook to positive by S&P. Thanks to the Group’s well-established and comprehensive Enterprise Risk Management Framework with appropriate tools and techniques that help to identify measure and aptly manage risks on a Group level. The completion of AXA transaction and rights issue clearly manifest the progress of the Group’s strategic execution in the right direction. We strive to explore innovative approaches for the Group to provide an exciting customer experience of world-class offerings with the presence of a strong and unified GIG brand across the markets we operate in.”

-Ends-

Send us your press releases to pressrelease.zawya@refinitiv.com

© Press Release 2021

Disclaimer: The contents of this press release was provided from an external third party provider. This website is not responsible for, and does not control, such external content. This content is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither this website nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this press release.

The press release is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Neither this website nor our affiliates shall be liable for any errors or inaccuracies in the content, or for any actions taken by you in reliance thereon. You expressly agree that your use of the information within this article is at your sole risk.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, this website, its parent company, its subsidiaries, its affiliates and the respective shareholders, directors, officers, employees, agents, advertisers, content providers and licensors will not be liable (jointly or severally) to you for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, incidental, punitive or exemplary damages, including without limitation, lost profits, lost savings and lost revenues, whether in negligence, tort, contract or any other theory of liability, even if the parties have been advised of the possibility or could have foreseen any such damages.